COAL MINES OF INDIA (Geography , Gs Paper 1, Map)

Jharkhand leads in coal production and coal reserves in the country. The important coal fields are (i) Jharia, (ii) Giridih, (iii) North Karanpura, (iv) South Karanpura, (v) Ramgarh, (vi) Bokaro and, (vii) Daltonganj. The Jharia coalfield is the largest in India. It accounts for over 50 per cent of the coal output of the state and produces the best variety of coking coal.Orissa ranks second position in coal reserves. The impor­tant coalfields are (i) Talcher and (ii) Rampur. They are situated on the Mahanadi basin.Madhya Pradesh has large coal reserves. The major coal mines are (i) Umaria, (ii) Sohagpur, and (iii) Singrauli.Chhattisgarh has large coal reserves. (i) Corba coal mine is of great importance. Other mines of notable importance are (ii) Chirimiri, (iii) Jhilimili and Bishrampur.West Bengal ranks fourth in India in coal reserves. The important coalfields of this area are found in Raniganj. Recently a large coalfield has discovered in (ii) Mejia in Bankura district. The Raniganj coalfield is the second largest coalfield in India.Andhra Pradesh occupies the fifth position in coal reserves in India. The major coalfields are (i) Singareni, (ii) Tandur, (iii) Kothagudem and (iv) Yellandu.Maharashtra holds the sixth position in coal reserves in the country. The major coalfields are found in Nagpur-Wardha region. The important mining areas are (i) Wardha, (ii) Ballarpur, (iii) Chanda and (iv) Kampati.Lignite or brown coal occurs in (i) Neyveli in Tamil Nadu, (ii) Pallu fields in Rajasthan (iii) Masi in Kashmir and (iv) Parts of Assam, Meghalaya and other hilly tracts on the foothills of the Himalayas. By far the largest deposits occur in Neyveli in South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu.

Production: India is the fifth largest coal producing country in the world. The coal production was 295.09 million tons and lignite production was 20.01 million tons in 1996-97